Shapeshifter

Shapeshifter is a digital complex oscillator created by Intellijel and Cylonix.

Links

Note: Some images are derived from the official Shapeshifter manual and are used with permission from Intellijel.

Frontpanel
This section describes the frontpanel functionality of the Shapeshifter. It also serves as a decent overview of the synthesis options available. After pressing a panel button, in most cases turn the left data encoder to change the value of the displayed parameter. Note: Preset mode is covered in it's own section.

Frontpanel: Top Left
WAVE BANK	Press to edit the wavetable bank for OSC1. Press again to edit the wavetable bank for OSC2.
SYNC / PULSE	Press one or more times to edit (in order) OSC1 sync, OSC2 sync, Pulse output mode. See the additional sections for description of sync and pulse modes.
MOD A	Press to edit the modulation destination for MODA input. Press again to edit whether OSC2 output modifies SHAPE1, TILT, or nothing.
MULTI / CHORD TYPE	The MULTI setting for each oscillator joins subsequent waveforms from the wavetable into a single waveform. For example when MULTI for OSC 1 is set to 2, OSC 1 will emit one cycle of the current waveform, then one cycle of the next waveform in the wavetable, then back to one cycle of the first waveform, etc. Press MULTI to edit OSC1 multi. Press again to edit OSC2 multi. If CHORD MODE is activated, press a third time to edit CHORD TYPE. See "Chord Types" section for a description of all chord types available.

Frontpanel: Top Right
COMBO MODE	Press to change the mode how OSC1 and OSC2 are combined before being sent to OUT1. Press a second time to enable MOD B control over COMBO MODE. See "Combo Modes" sections for description of each combo mode.
TILT / CHORD DRIVE	TILT phase modulates OSC 1 with it's own output, effectively "tilting" the waveform. Press to modify the TILT level for OSC 1. Press a second time to enable MOD B control over TILT. When CHORD MODE is active, this button edits CHORD DRIVE instead of TILT. CHORD DRIVE amplifies, then clips, each voice in the chord.
DELAY DEPTH	OUT1 is optionally run through a delay line whose delay time is equal to OSC2 frequency. Press to edit delay depth, which sets both the amount of delay feedback and the wet/dry output ratio. Press again to enable MOD B modulation of DELAY DEPTH. Set OSC2 to LFO mode for a traditional delay effect, or set it to audio rate for the delay line to act as a resonator.
CHORD DETUNE / PERC DECAY	If CHORD MODE is enabled, press to edit CHORD DETUNE, which fattens the chord sound by detuning each oscillator. Press a second time to enable MOD B modulation of CHORD DETUNE. If PERCUSSION MODE is enabled, the percussion envelope decay time (PERC DELAY) will be edited when this button is pressed instead. Press a second time to enable MOD B modulation of PERC DELAY.

Frontpanel: Middle Section
QUANT and RATIO/TIME	When QUANT is disabled, OSC 2's frequency is controlled by PITCH 2, offset by RATIO. When QUANT is enabled, PITCH 2 input is ignored and OSC 2's frequency is a fixed fraction or multiple ratio OSC 1's frequency, controlled by RATIO. The possible frequency ratios for OSC 2 are 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 1, 5/4, 3/2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8. When QUANT is flashing, OSC 2's frequency is clocked to an incoming clock signal present on the PITCH 2 input. RATIO controls a clock divider / multiplier with possible ratios of 1/24, 1/16, 1/12, 1/8, 1/6, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12. In this case, the LFO2 setting is ignored.
INT FM	This knob, combined with the INT. FM CV input, controls how much OSC 2's output modulates OSC 1's frequency.
INT. SYNC	When lit, both OSC 1 and OSC 2 are synced to an internal oscillator running at the same base frequency as OSC 1 (but not affected by OSC 1 FM inputs). When flashing, the internal oscillator is set to half of OSC 1's frequency. See "Sync Modes" to understand how OSC 1 and OSC 2 will react to sync.
COARSE / FINE	These provide an offset to both OSC 1 and OSC 2 frequency.
LFO / 1 / 2	Press to cycle through setting OSC 2, OSC 1, or both to LFO speeds, lowered by 7 octaves. When LFO 2 is enabled and QUANT is disabled, OSC 2's frequency is no longer affected by COARSE and FINE knobs.
CHORD MODE	When enabled, OSC1 emits 8-oscillator chords, controlled by CHORD TYPE and CHORD DETUNE. Some other frontpanel buttons change functionality with CHORD MODE enabled.
SHAPE 1 / SHAPE 2	SHAPE 1 and SHAPE 2 (combined with their respective CV inputs) choose a smoothly interpolated waveform for OSC 1 and OSC 2 from their currently selected wave banks.
PERC MODE	When PERCUSSION MODE enabled, an envelope controls the gain of OUT 1. The envelope decay time is controlled by the PERC DECAY parameter. Press PERC MODE once to enable PERCUSSION MODE, where the decay envelope is triggered by a rising edge on the SYNC input. Press PERC MODE a second time and the decay envelope will remain high as long as SYNC input is high.
FOLD	FOLD knob plus FOLD CV input controls the depth of the analog wavefolding applied to the FOLD input (which is normaled to OUT 1).

Frontpanel: Modulation Row
RATIO	Combines with RATIO knob. See QUANT / RATIO above.
INT. FM	Combines with INT. FM knob to determine the depth of internal frequency modulation.
FM 1	Modulates OSC 1 frequency.
FOLD CV	Combines with FOLD knob to determine depth of wavefolding applied to FOLD input.
MOD A	AC-coupled input to the MOD A modulation bus. Note that it is normaled to OUT 1, so even with nothing plugged in the MOD A attenuator controls the depth of modulation and a signal is present.
SHAPE 1 / SHAPE 2	Combines with SHAPE 1 / SHAPE 2 knobs to calculate OSC 1 and OSC 2 positions within their active wavetable banks.
MOD B	Combines with MOD B knob to determine the value of the MOD B modulation bus.

Frontpanel: Bottom Row
PEAK / LFO 1	When OSC 1 is not in LFO mode, this LED indicates either FM 1 or MOD A inputs are hitting the limits of their ranges and are clipping. When OSC 1 is in LFO mode, this LED is lit when OSC 1's polarity is positive.
PITCH 1 / PITCH 2	1V/oct voltage inputs for OSC 1 and OSC 2. PITCH 2 is normalled to PITCH 1. When QUANT mode is flashing, PITCH 2 expects a clock signal to sync to instead of a V/oct signal.
SYNC	Rising edges on this input will cause OSC 1 and OSC 2 to sync based on their active SYNC modes. When PERC mode is activated this input controls the percussion envelope.
FOLD IN	Input to the onboard analog wavefolder, normalled to OUT 1.
OUT 1	Output 1, which is the result of OSC 1 optionally combined with OSC 2, optionally through the percussion mode envelope, then optionally through the delay line.
OUT 2	Oscillator 2 output.
Pulse	Configurable pulse (0-5v) output controlled by PULSE setting.
FOLD	Output of the analog wavefolder.
PULSE / LFO 2	When OSC 2 is not in LFO mode, this LED indicates when the PULSE output is high. When OSC 2 is in LFO mode, this LED indicates when OSC 2 polarity is positive.

Combo Modes
To change combo modes press COMBO MODE and rotate the data encoder. Press COMBO MODE twice to modulate combo mode via MOD B.

Mode	Description
osc1	OUT1 is the bitwise result of OSC1 AND OSC2.
ring	OUT1 is OSC1 ring modulated (or multiplied) by OSC2.
min	OUT1 is equal to whichever OSC has a lower value.
pong	OUT1 is OSC1 if it is positive, otherwise OSC2 if it is negative, otherwise 0.
inlv	OUT1 is the result of interleaving the bits of OSC1 and OSC2's values. First bit from OSC1, then a bit from OSC2, ...
and	OUT1 is the bitwise result of OSC1 AND OSC2.
xor	OUT1 is the bitwise result of OSC1 XOR OSC2.
gLcH	OUT1 is the result of a complex bitwise algorithm combining OSC1 and OSC2.

Sync Modes

Both oscillators can be synced:

Externally when a value greater than 0.2 volts is present on SYNC input.
To an internal oscillator when INT SYNC is enabled.

When INT SYNC is pressed once the internal sync oscillator is the same base frequency as OSC1.
When INT SYNC is flashing, the internal sync oscillator is half the frequency as OSC1.
Press SYNC/PULSE/STEP and turn data encoder to select sync modes for each oscillator.

Mode	Description
Hard	Oscillator phase is reset to zero when sync occurs.
Soft	Oscillator phase is reset to zero if it is within the first 1/4 of it's cycle when sync occurs.
Rev	The oscillator direction is reversed when a sync event occurs.
Hold	Oscillator switches between holding a steady value, and running normally, on each sync event.
1shot	Oscillator runs for one cycle of the waveform on each sync event. Useful in LFO mode to act as a complex envelope.
Bump	Oscillator's phase is incremented by 1/4 a wavecycle on each sync event.
2=1 Sync	Same as Hard mode, but also generates additional sync events on oscillator 2 whenever oscillator 2 and 1 have equal output values.
1=2 Sync	Same as Hard mode, but also generates additional sync events on oscillator 1 whenever oscillator 1 and 2 have equal output values.
Off	Sync events have no effect on the oscillator.

Pulse Modes
Pulse mode controls the PULSE output signal functionality, which outputs either a 0v or 5v value. Press SYNC/PULSE twice and rotate data encoder to modify PULSE function.

Mode	PULSE output
+o1	high when either oscillator 1 is positive, otherwise 0.
+o2	high when either oscillator 2 is positive, otherwise 0.
EOC	high at the end of the PERC MODE envelope, low while PERC MODE envelope is decaying. If PERC MODE is disabled, PULSE will always be high.
-o2	high when oscillator 2 is negative.
OR	high when oscillator 1 or 2 is positive.
AND	high when oscillator 1 and 2 is positive.
XOR	high when one of oscillator 1, or 2, but not both, are positive.
gLcH	high when the result of the gLcH combo mode would be positive. This is available for PULSE even if gLcH is not the active COMBO MODE.
sq1	square wave with frequency equal to oscillator 1.
sq2	square wave with frequency equal to oscillator 2.
pmw1	pulse width waveform with frequency equal to oscillator 1, and variable width controlled by SHAPE 1.
pmw2	pulse width waveform with frequency equal to oscillator 2, and variable width controlled by SHAPE 2.
1>2	high when the value of oscillator 1 is higher than oscillator 2.
1<2	high when the value of oscillator 1 is lower than oscillator 2.
RND1	random value, updated once at the start of every cycle of oscillator 1.
RND2	random value, updated once at the start of every cycle of oscillator 2.

MOD A Destinations
MOD A modulation input is high speed (96khz) and AC-coupled. It is normalized to OUT 1, so even with nothing patched the MOD A attenuator is an important control for the output of the patch. To Change MOD A modulation destination, press MOD A / MORPH and turn the data encoder.

Mode	Description
Phase2	MOD A modulates the phase of oscillator 2.
Combo 2	MOD A's signal is sent into the COMBO MODE oscillator combiner in place of oscillator 2.
Shaper 2	MOD A is used to address the wavetable for oscillator 2. PITCH 2 and RATIO have no effect, and instead the MOD A signal is converted to an address in oscillator 2's waveform. For example, a rising sawtooth sent to MOD A would emit oscillator 2's waveform at the same rate as the input sawtooth.
Voc MOD	MOD A is used as the modulation signal for the 64-band vocoder. The output of the oscillator COMBO is used as the carrier signal.
Phase 1	MOD A modulates the phase of oscillator 1.
Combo 1	MOD A's signal is sent into the COMBO MODE oscillator combiner in place of oscillator 1.
Shaper 1	MOD A is used to address the wavetable for oscillator 1. In Chord Mode only the first oscillator is affected.
Voc CARR	MOD A is used as the carrier signal for the 64-band vocoder.
Sync 2	MOD A is used as the sync input for oscillator 2, allowing oscillators 1 and 2 to be syncronized to different signals.
PrstStep	MOD A is used as a trigger to step in PRESET STEP mode. This allows the SYNC input to be used for sync signals or preset stepping.

Basic1

Basic2

BasRec

BiPuls

BitCr1

BitCr2

BitCr3

BitCr4

Buzzer

Cello1

Cello2

Chip1

Chip2

Chip3

Chip4

Chip5

Chip6

Chirp1

Chirp2

Chirp3

Chirp4

Chirp5

Chirp6

Chirp7

Chirp8

Chirp9

Chrp10

Chrp11

Chrp12

Chrp13

Chrp14

Chrp15

Chrp16

Chrp17

Chrp18

Chrp19

Chrp20

Clmet

Clav1

Clav2

Dstrt1

Dstrt2

Dstrt3

eBass1

eBass2

eBass3

eBass4

ePian1

ePian2

ePian3

ePian4

ePian5

Flute1

GapSaw

Grain1

Grain2

Grain3

Gitar1

Gitar2

Gitar3

Gitar4

Harmo1

Harmo2

Harmo3

LFO1

LFO2

LFO3

LFO4

LFO5

LFO6

LFO7

LFO8

LFO9

LFO10

LFO11

LFO12

LFO13

LFO14

LFO15

LFO16

LFO17

LFO18

LFO19

LFO20

LFO21

Misc1

Misc2

Misc3

Misc4

Noise1

Noise2

Noise3

Noise4

Noise5

Noise6

Oboes

Chvlo1

Chvlo2

Raw1

Raw2

Raw3

ResPls

ResSaw

ResSqu

Saxoph

Symmtr

Thrmin

2Tone1

2Tone2

2Tone3

2Tone4

2Tone5

2Tone6

2Tone7

2Tone8

2Tone9

VidGm1

VidGm2

VidGm3

VidGm4

Violin

Vocal1

Vocal2

Vocal3

Vocal4

Vocal5

Vocal6

Vocal7

Chord Mode
When CHORD MODE is enabled, oscillator 1 emits 8 waveforms with the same shape, but different frequencies. Press CHORD MODE and rotate data encoder to pick the chord shape (see table below). Chord voices can also be detuned and overdriven via CHORD DETUNE and CHORD DRIVE functions which are active when CHORD MODE is active.

Chord Mode	Description
uniso	Unison
m2nd	Minor 2nd interval (1 semitone)
M2nd	Major 2nd interval
m3rd	Minor 3rd interval
M3rd	Major 3rd interval
4th	4th interval
trito	Tritone interval
5th	5th interval
aug5	Augmented 5th interval
6th	6th interval
m7th	Minor 7th interval
M7th	Major 7th interval
octav	Octave interval
suboc	Suboctave
2oct	Octave + 2octave
minor	Minor triad
minI1	Minor triad / 1st inversion
minI2	Minor triad / 2nd inversion
major	Major triad
majI1	Major triad / 1st inversion
majI2	Major triad / 2nd inversion
sus	Suspended triad
aug	Augmented triad
dim	Diminished triad
maj6	Major 6th
maj7	Major 7th
7M1st	Major 7th / 1st inversion
7M2nd	Major 7th / 2nd inversion
7M3rd	Major 7th / 3rd inversion
dom	Dominant 7th
7D1st	Dominant 7th / 1st inversion
7D2nd	Dominant 7th / 2nd inversion
7D3rd	Dominant 7th / 3rd inversion
min7	Minor 7th
7m1st	Minor 7th / 1st inversion
7m2nd	Minor 7th / 2nd inversion
7m3rd	Minor 7th / 3rd inversion
hdim7	Half diminished 7th
7h1st	Half diminished 7th / 1st inversion
7h2nd	Half diminished 7th / 2nd inversion
7h3rd	Half diminished 7th / 3rd inversion
dim7	Diminished 7th
7d1st	Diminished 7th / 1st inversion
7d2nd	Diminished 7th / 2nd inversion
7d3rd	Diminished 7th / 3rd inversion
7sus	Suspended 7th
7s1st	Suspended 7th / 1st inversion
7s2nd	Suspended 7th / 2nd inversion
7s3rd	Suspended 7th / 3rd inversion
D9th	Dominant 9th
9D2nd	Dominant 9th / 2nd inversion
Dm9th	Dominant minor 9th
Dm9-2	Dominant minor 9th / 2nd inversion
maj9	Major 9th
9M2nd	Major 9th / 2nd inversion
min9	Minor 9th
9m2nd	Minor 9th / 2nd inversion
M6/9	Major 6/9
m6/9	Minor 6/9
9b5	9th, flat 5th
9#5	9th, sharp 5th
D11th	Dominant 11th
m11th	Minor 11th
*CH(...)**	When Chord type begins with a , it is controlled by MODB*. Enable by selecting the last entry in the chord type list.

Preset Mode

Use Preset mode to load, save, sequence and morph between 100 stored presets.
Press the left data entry encoder underneath the PRESET MODE LED to enable/disable Preset mode. The red PRESET MODE LED indicates when Preset mode is active.

A preset contains values for every knob and patch setting. When a preset is loaded, the physical knob positions are ignored until the knob is moved.

The last loaded preset is remembered by the Shapeshifter, and reloaded on powerup.

Preset: Key Combos
Hold COMBO MODE and press MORPH to randomize all preset values. Hold COMBO MODE and press LOAD to initialize all preset values.

Preset Mode: Controls
SAVE	Press to begin saving into the currently displayed "Preset ##"" slot number. The LCD will display "Save? No". Rotate encoder until it the LCD displays "Save? YES". Then press SAVE again.
LOAD	Press to load the currently displayed "Prset ##" slot number into the active patch.
MORPH	Press to begin morphing between the current panel settings and a chosen preset. Rotate the left data encoder to change presets. Use MOD B knob and CV input to morph between panel state (counter-clockwise) and the preset value (clockwise). Note: INT SYNC and PERC MODE are always read from the panel state and are not morphed.

Preset Stepping
Press STEP to enter preset stepping mode. In preset step mode, a series of presets are sequenced via either triggers sent to SYNC or by setting MOD A to "PrstStep". Turn the left rotary encoder to choose between the seven settings for preset step mode.
Fwd: NN	Press STEP to step through presets in a forward direction when a trigger is sent to SYNC.
Rev: NN	Press STEP to step through presets in a reverse direction when a trigger is sent to SYNC.
Fw/Rv: NN	Press STEP to step through presets in a forward direction to the last preset, then reverse back to the first preset, when a trigger is sent to SYNC.
RandP: NN	Press STEP to step through presets randomly between the beginning and ending preset number when a trigger is sent to SYNC.
RandS: NN	Press STEP to randomize all preset parameters when a trigger is sent to SYNC. Presets are not used.
Mod B: NN	Press STEP to continuously select the preset by the value of MOD B knob and CV input.
Begin: NN	Press STEP and rotate the left data encoder to select the starting preset number to sequence from.
End: NN	Press STEP and rotate the left data encoder to select the ending preset number to sequence from.
Div: NN	Press STEP and rotate the left data encoder to configure a clock divider for incoming triggers on SYNC. For example, when set to 8, the preset will change to the next in sequence after 8 incoming trigger pulses.

Preset Naming
Hold down COMBO MODE and press STEP to edit the preset name. Turn the encoder to change characters, and press COMBO MODE to edit the next character.

Shapeshifter

General

Info

Shapeshifter

Links

Sections

Frontpanel

Combo Modes

Sync Modes

Pulse Modes

MOD A

Wavetables

Chords

Presets